Boys' basketball notebook: West Delaware rolling along at 9-0

CEDAR RAPIDS — They could have charged admission because they would have gotten people to come watch.

The two highest-ranked boys' basketball teams in Class 3A scrimmaged each other over the holiday break. It was No. 1 Waverly-Shell Rock and No. 2 West Delaware.

Both are 9-0.

'No score was kept,' West Delaware Coach Matt Uthoff was quick to point out.

He was asked if he could divulge any details of exactly how things went down in the scrimmage. You know, if he could tell who was the better team.

'Let's just say if we played, it would be an extremely close game,' he said.

That's certainly a politically correct answer. But probably very true.

There doesn't seem to be much separating the teams from a statistical standpoint. They've both pretty much rolled through their respective schedules to date.

That was expected, especially on West Delaware's end. The Hawks returned all five starters and their top two bench players from last season's 16-7 team.

Senior forward John Nagel and senior point guard Ryan Trainer are in their fourth years as starters. They are relied on heavily for their leadership.

'I think we have defended extremely well,' Uthoff said. 'That's probably what I'm most proud of. We have shown glimpses of being really, really good. We've shown glimpses of needing to work on some things. But that's good at this point of the season.'

West Delaware set a school record for fewest points allowed last season, so you figured that would continue. What probably has been most impressive is the continued development of 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Derek Krogmann.

He leads WD in scoring (17.2 points per game) and rebounds (10.9), significantly increasing his numbers from his freshman year. Krogmann has an offer from the University of North Dakota and is being courted by other mid-major D-I types at this point.

'He has played at a high level,' Uthoff said. 'As a coaching staff, we knew he would be one of our most improved players coming into the season. He is very driven, has high goals, and he has worked very hard on his game.'

Junior guard Tyler Kelley is West Delaware's second-leading scorer (14.8 ppg), with guard Kyle Wright its other returning starter. Senior guard Marshall McCarty and forward Troy Monaghan are the experienced bench guys, with junior Drew Wubbena the only 'newbie' who has played in every game.

Uthoff, and everyone else, is very curious to see how the Iowa High School Athletic Association sorts out its district and substate pods. Those will be released in a week and a half.

Perish the thought, but could West Delaware and Waverly-Shell Rock be paired somehow?

'Extremely anxious,' Uthoff said, with a laugh. 'Just kind of curious to see what the state does, because there are so many good teams around here.'

AROUND THE HOOP

• Iowa City West gets a significant challenge Saturday when it travels to Overland Park, Kan., to play Blue Valley Northwest. That would pit Iowa's top-ranked big-school team (4A) against Kansas' top-ranked big-school team (6A).

'You want to see something new,' said West's Connor McCaffery. 'We know all of these guys, I'm been playing against them since I was in, like, sixth grade. Seeing something new, with these guys being good players, it's good. They're going to play man (defense), they're going to be athletic. We're going to play our game. It's going to be fun.'

• The Gazette area is down to three unbeaten teams. That would be North Linn (10-0) in Class 1A, Cascade (9-0) in 2A and West Delaware in 3A. Cascade has an intriguing game Saturday night at surging Iowa City Regina (7-3), which has won five straight.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com